Wall Between Us
by Donatello8696
Summary: -"I just feel that there is some kind of barrier separating us. Like a type of wall we can't get around or break." MomoKai. Inspired by the song "Cherish" by Ai Otsuka.
1. Chapter 1

_Where am I?_

_A thin, white layer of fog was surrounding Momo, and he gazed up at it in wonder as he walked mindlessly through the unending path he was taking._

_What is this place?_

_Small sparkles were floating through the air that could easily be mistaken as snow or rain, but Momo knew that it was neither. He felt no cold, no moisture, yet the more he walked, the more he seemed to shiver. _

_And then he stopped. A glaze of shine appeared before him. His face fixed in a curious expression, Momo raised his hand to it, resting it on the glass wall before him. _

_The glass was cold, near to the point of freezing, but Momo kept his hand on it, eyes furrowed deeply in a tight frown. _

_He almost yelped, almost gasped, almost pulled his hand away in shock. But he stayed still._

_A shadow appeared behind the glass, dark and distinguishable in the clear shine. For a long moment, Momoshiro just stared at the dark figure behind the glass, waiting. Then, after a long while had passed, the silhouette moved, and Momo saw a hand, clear and easy to see, pressed against the glass from the other side. It shifted, getting closer and closer, until it was pressed pressed right where Momo's hand was, somehow joining their hands together even from the other side. _

_Momo gulped and didn't move his hand, instead pushing his hand harder onto the cold wall. There was this feeling inside him, something he never felt before in his life. A type of longing brewed inside of him as he stared at the unknown person behind the wall, growing stronger and stronger the more he stayed. He noticed, with a sudden pang, that as he pressed his hand against the other, the wall suddenly became warmer._

_And finally, after what seemed like hours, the person removed the hand away from Momo's. It seemed to turn and began to walk away. The wall became unbearably cold again._

_"Wait!" Momo shouted, launching the other hand forward as he pressed himself against the frozen wall. No words left his throat. He was screaming mutely into the suddenly howling wind, pounding his fists against the glass desperately as a wave of ice spread throughout his body._

_The person never looked back._

Momo gasped as he sprang awake, sitting up. A tight grip, however, kept him from sitting up correctly and he thrashed around wildly in his cacoon of his blanket and yelped as he made contact with the floor.

"Itai," Momo muttered, rubbing his head after he got over the shock of the heart-pounding wake up call.

"Takeshi?" Momo heard his mother call from downstairs. "Is everthing alright?"

Momo glanced at the doorway and replied, "Hai kaa-san! I'm fine! Just fell out of bed!"

He heard his mother chuckle slightly before answering with, "Well, get your stuff ready! Practice is going to start in half-hour!"

Half-hour. That left enough time get dressed and gather his materials and eat a quick breakfast before going off on his bike to pick up Echizen. Momo sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. No shower this morning. He could run a gelled hand through his hair once or twice, since there was barely enough time to gel it properly. Not great, but it would have to do for today.

The rest of the morning spent at home went by in a blur as he dressed in his uniform, stuffed his books in his bag and rackets in his tennis bag, and ate in a blur. The next thing he knew he was running out the door after giving his mother a goodbye kiss on the cheek and jumping on his bike, pedaling over to Echizen's. The entire way there, his mind suddenly became filled with images of his dream last night and he began to wonder.

What on earth did it mean? It seemed so vivid, so real. Momo could remember the glass wall, the sparkles in the sky, the unknown figure behind the wall.

But most of all, Momo could feel the longing and loneliness he had felt when pressing his hand against the other's.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Momo frowned and pedaled harder.

_It probably didn't mean anything. Besides, it was only a dream, right?_

* * *

**This idea came to me after listening to **_**Cherish **_**by Ai Otsuka and after watching Draw With Me, which has the song featured in it. =D For those who haven't heard the song or watched the video on YouTube, DO IT. They are AMAZING.**

**So basically this is the prolouge of this story. And of course, it is MomoKai. They are my absolute favorite couple in the entire PoT fan archive. I'm sorry InuKai fans, but I'm going to be straightforward: I. HATE. InuKai. I just despise it completely. It just seems so... UGH. So, don't expect for me to be writing about it or taking any requests of it because I WON'T DO IT. End of conversation.**

**So I hope you guys like this! I wanna keep writing, but honestly, no one has been reviewing any of my stories lately (sad face =() and I really want to keep writing, but no one has been there to motivate me. My friends never read my stories because they're into Kuroshitsuji now. Don't get me wrong I LOVE Kuroshitsuji, but PoT has been my number one favorite anime since the beginning of eighth grade and I don't want to let it go.**

**So I would appreciate more support from you guys! Not saying that if you don't review I'll fall off the face of the earth or anything, but I would really love some feedback please! Once again, thank you to my faithful reviewers and readers and I hope you guys like this new fanfic!**

**Review! Onegai? =)**


	2. Chapter 2

There's really no excuse for not writing in about three years, but it feels so great to be back! I may be rusty so bear with me please. But to make up for me going AWOL for a while, I have an extra long chapter for you guys! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Prince of Tennis or the song which inspired this fic "Cherish" by Ai Otsuka. PoT belong to Konomi Takeshi.

* * *

Inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.

The soft taps of tennis shoes repeatedly hit the concrete beneath them as Kaidoh continued his morning jog to tennis practice. Small huffs of air escaped him as he controlled his breathing, and the blare of music coming from his headphones were the only noises he was aware of at the moment.

He stared up ahead, focusing on the street before him as he ran. Occasionally he sneaked a glance around him, observing the outside world. Birds flew overhead, some squirrels chased each other around the trunk of a tree, a small Shiba Inu yapped at him as he ran past the owner who was walking it.

Kaidoh felt a gentle spring breeze blow past him, softly ruffling the hair not covered by his emerald bandana, and the sun, barely risen in the sky, gave off a warm glow.

Through his breathing, Kaidoh gave a long sigh. This was the place where he was truly content. There was just something about watching the nature around him as he ran and how often it changed and how often it remained the same that just put him at ease.

However, this peaceful environment would not stay peaceful for long.

_"Whoooooooaaaaa, watch out, Mamushi!"_

Kaidoh gave a start as his head snapped to his left and found Momo, with Ryoma behind him, hurtling down a steep hill on Momo's purple bicycle.

Eyes wide with surprise, Kaidoh gasped and skidded to a halt just as Momo and Ryoma reached the bottom of the hill, narrowly missing Kaidoh as they turned sharply to their left. Kaidoh glared after them and snarled, "Bastard, watch where you're going!"

Momo whipped his head around as he shot off on his bike, Ryoma clinging onto his shoulders tightly. Kaidoh had started running again, but was getting smaller and smaller the further he rode away. His face, rather than going into his usual scowl upon seeing the viper, formed into a confused frown.

For when he saw Kaidoh, his stomach did unexpected lurch inside him that had nothing to do with the rapid ride down the hill.

"Momo-senpai!"

Ryoma's sharp warning snapped Momo's attention back to the road ahead. When he noticed there wasn't any immediate obstacle that needed to be avoided, Momo looked over his shoulder at his friend. "Echizen, you scared me to death!"

Echizen smirked and nodded ahead. "Watch the road, senpai. You're about to hit a car."

"Whoa!" Momo looked ahead and braced himself for... nothing. "Echizen!"

* * *

"Alright, everyone, gather around!"

"Hai!"

Eight Regulars made their way over to Coach Ryuzaki. The elder woman stood next to Inui, who was holding a small cup, as they waited patiently for the others to come around to the net of one of the courts. "Alright, everyone, we're going to try something a little different today. We're going to be playing a game."

"Coach, didn't we just finish a match?" chirped Eiji, scratching confusingly at his head.

Ryuzaki furrowed her brows and chuckled slightly. "No Kikumaru. It's going to be a teamwork game. And it will be doubles. _Yes_, Echizen. Doubles," she said, staring pointedly at Ryoma, who looked on the verge of voicing his discontent.

"How do we play this game, coach?" Oishi asked.

"Well, the rules are simple. I will choose two of you to be on one team. They'll be on this side of the court," she stated, gesturing toward half of the court they were standing on. "Everyone else will make two lines on the same court, each by the allies and on the baseline. I will stand at the baseline in the center. When I lob the ball over the net, the two players from the lines will be a doubles pair and run to the other side of the court, where they will play out the ball until a team makes a point.

"If the first pair I call makes the point, they remain where they are on this court. However, if the other team makes the point, they'll come to this side of the court, where they will face off everyone else as the original team did. Understand?"

"Hai!"

"Good. Now the first team will be," Ryuzaki said, reaching into the cup in Inui's hand. "... Kawamura."

Kawamura stepped forward.

"... and Fuji."

Fuji and Kawamura took their places at the courts as the others, including Inui, took their places at the baseline.

It was an interesting game, and Momo took glee in watching Ryoma fumble around the court when he went up with Inui. Momo himself already went up with Oishi and Tezuka, losing with Oishi and winning with Tezuka, only to lose again when they went up against Inui and Kaidoh. He was waiting in line again, awaiting his turn. When he was in front again, he didn't bother to glance to see who his partner was before Ryuzaki lobbed the ball over the net and Momo took off running.

It was only when he reached the opposite side of the court that he noticed his partner, and almost stopped short.

Kaidoh snarled, "Idiot, pay attention!"

Momo reverted his attention back to their opponents, Fuji and Eiji. Kaidoh had already delivered a sharp topspin to the left side, forcing Oishi to hit it with a weak backhand. Momo, now in position, snapped his arm for a powerful forehand, only to have it vollied back by Eiji at the net.

Kaidoh retaliated at the net, leaping up and barely making it high enough to hit it out of Eiji's reach, only to have to shot back over by Oishi. Momo returned it with a powerful backhand, wincing when he saw it was going almost directly at Eiji. The acrobat giggled as he neatly sliced it over, dropping it almost right next to the net. At seeing this, Kaidoh ran forward.

Momo stopped short.

_A dark silhouette walking away, never looking back. _

_The cold dread and fear wrapping itself around his heart with a tight grip, never wavering. _

_Screaming mindlessly into the howling wind as he was engulfed in the wall of ice._

"Out!"

Ryuzaki's voice cut through Momo's train of thought and he blinked, bewildered at the sudden interruption.

Kaidoh had indeed reached the ball, but had desperately dived to get it over, resulting in a sloppy hit and sending the ball out of bounds. Momo and Kaidoh were out.

Kaidoh spared Momo no glance as he walked off the court, his usual scowl in place. This made an angry frown overtake Momos features as he followed suit. It wasn't his fault they lost! Stupid Mamushi and his always projecting his anger out on him, even if it wasn't his fault!

The game continued on for a little while, and Momo was not paired up with Kaidoh for a second time, and for reason he himself could not understand, he was both grateful and saddened at the discovery.

_Why would I be said that I'm not going to be paired up with that stupid Mamushi anymore? Even _Echizen _is a better doubles partner than he is!_

Momo shook his head at these ridiculous thoughts and sent at glare at Kaidoh's back for the remainder of practice.

* * *

School and afternoon practice went by normally and without event. The homework Momo received was a decent workload. Honestly, nothing really happened that was a point of interest in the whole day.

Momo shoved his sweaty clothes into his duffel, listening to the locker room chatter as he waited for Ryoma to change back into his school uniform.

"Oi, Echizen. Hurry up, will you? I actually want to get back home in time for dinner this time."

"Is food all you ever think about, Momo-sempai?" Ryoma quirked, flinging his racket bag over his shoulder. Momo was about to retort when he heard a soft yet distinguishable hiss. He glanced over to his right and scowled at the source.

"Anything you want to say, Mamushi?"

Kaidoh furrowed his brows and slammed his locker door shut, glaring at Momo as he made his way out of the crowded locker room. Momo stood up straight; how dare he ignore him like that! Momo opened his mouth to shout something at Kaidoh's retreating back -

"Senpai, let's go. You're my ride."

Echizen had one brow raised in an expectant expression. Momo sent a final glare at the door where Kaidoh had disappeared behind just seconds before and turned back to Ryoma.

"Yeah, all right. Time for some hamburgers!"

"Psh."


End file.
